About Alcoholism - Alcoholism Information, Research and Treatment

Many of these items are contrary to AA philosophy. Their publication here does not mean that the Grapevine endorses or approves them; they are offered solely for your information.

One of the prominent features of the disease of alcoholism is the massive denial of its existence on all levels--a denial which seems particularly intractable within those cultures and professions where drinking is considered a necessary, if not obligatory, form of social discourse. To label someone an alcoholic can only be seen as a betrayal of one's own allegiance to a code that sanctions and harbors a variety of drinking habits wherein the line between social drinking and a drinking problem becomes obscured. The identifier, by rocking the normative boat, becomes the accused and the deviant himself.

-- Robert Delacey, psychotherapist

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